the real saving private ryan.

The 70th anniversary of the allied invasion of Europe aka the longest day ever was June 6th, so I thought I'd get in the game and review The Dead and Those About to Die: D-Day: The Big Red One at Omaha Beach by John C. McManus, today. This book focuses on the 1st Infantry Division (The Big Red One) and the crazy slaughter at Omaha Beach. McManus does an excellent job capturing the horrors of war, I still have a stomachache. But it was super exciting to read about the overview of the plan, the level of detail and logistics, the training that went into making this one day successful, and also how close the German's came to derailing the allies plan altogether. Phew. Even those of you who are super nerdy history buffs will learn some new information on what this invasion accomplished and some of the lessons learned that day.

and what a story to tell.

Normally I dive head first into a Jodi Picoult book and I don't come up for air until the last page. The Storyteller was a little bit different. Not necessarily in a bad way, it just took me longer to figure out where Picoult was taking me. She begins the novel with a girl named Ania who lived in a village that seemed very much in the past. Then she moves on to Sage, a baker who attends a grief share class because she's lost both of her parents, and is having a really difficult time getting over her mother's death which happened three years ago. Sage has some major issues with her appearance, scars on her face that she tries to hide by being a night shift baker and growing her bangs over her face. She meets Jossef, a seemingly gentle old man who also attends the class, and they become friends. The friendship comes to a bit of a halt when Jossef tells Sage that he was a Nazi. Like, a sent people to the gas chambers kind of Nazi during WWII. Next, Jossef asks Sage to kill him. Her family is Jewish, and Jossef thought he could get some peace from her forgiveness and an assisted suicide type of deal. Sage runs off to the FBI Nazi hunters and then Picoult gets to the real story. Sage has a grandmother named Minka who is a survivor. She was actually in Auschwitz, and horrible things happened to her and her family. It's Minka's story (and Ania's, too) that made this a worthwhile read, as Minka IS the storyteller.

all the married ladies, all the married ladies.

I know everyone says this, but my wedding really was the BEST DAY EVER. The weather was sunny, breezy and PERFECT. The food was good, the DJ was amazing, and Rich split his pants during his first drop down on the dance floor. The cops showed up and everything. Total blowout. And the photo booth pictures just won't stop being funny.

 

wedding bells and fireworks.

Soooo, I'm getting married TOMORROW. That's weird to say, but it's true. Manfriend is finally making an honest woman out of me! That being said, I'll be a bit busy from here on out. I am on the last twenty pages of Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller, so I'll be back to talk about that on Monday. Have a safe and fun 4th of July weekend everyone!

kick ass giveaway.

Win a FREE copy of Beast!

 

 

 

 

Contest Rules:

1. Follow this blog :)

2. E-mail your name and this book title to: jenileerose@yahoo.com to enter!

3. Contest ends 7/7

make your ideas a reality.

My mom and grandma LOVE Shark Tank. They literally order some of the products they see on the show. Silly girls. I'm not really into that type of reality show, or reality shows in general unless it's House Hunters, but I did appreciate Shark Tank's Lori Greiner's Invent It, Sell It, Bank It! almost as much as the ladies did. In this book, which I would consider a self-help, Greiner shares her own entrepreneurial experience in such a way, it is obvious that she wants readers to be successful.

Advice and specific topics in the book include:

Research Your Market
How to Get Funding
The Truth About Patents
Manufacturing and Packaging
Beyond Brick and Mortar

Marketing That Really Works
Expand and Diversify

 

If you're already knee deep in your own entrepreneurial start up, some of this info may be repetitive to you. But I do believe that Greiner offers some real gems of advice, I mean, she's the one who is walking around all successful. 

chicken soup for crying your eyes out.

I devoured Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul (the original) when I was in middle school. The stories inside would make me laugh, make me cry, and make me think. Which didn't happen a lot back then. Needless to say I'm a huge fan of the series. I love the concept of writing coming from all walks of life, who share something pretty huge in common. Their age, religion, occupation, health issues. Which leads me to my next review of a new Chicken Soup installment, Chicken Soup for the Soul:  Living with Alzheimer's and Other Dementias by Amy Newmark and Angela Timashenka Geiger. My grandfather had dementia and died two and a half years ago. My grandmother still cries, and I still miss him. This was an extremely comforting collection of stories written by family members and other care givers dealing with a disease that steals their loved ones from them, mentally and then physically. If you are one of those people who have lost someone you love to Alzheimer's or Dementia, you will cry your eyes out, let me tell you. It will stir up your own fond memories. For example, the first story took me back to the last time I saw my grandparents dance. Grandpa was in pretty bad shape, sitting down in a chair that had wheels on the bottom, and grandma was up on her feet swaying their hands back and forth. And when I think of that moment, the tears just come. Not necessarily because I'm sad, but because they got to have that last dance. And that is what this book is all about.